Day 1

Today was Day 1 in Nairobi. First things first, I watched the last two episodes of Breaking Bad, which my safari caused me to miss. Probably wasn't the best planned sequence of events, but after watching two hours of drugs and murders, I went for my first stroll in Nairobi. Left the apartment, which I found on airbnb, and walked down Westlands Road, which is part of the Westlands neighborhood, also known as the expat neighborhood, and the target of the Westgate terror attack. There were a lot of people walking on the road, mostly wearing business casual, walking to a from work, I'm assuming. Interesting fact: in the USA there are 797 cars per 1000 people; in Kenya there are 24 cars per 1000 people. That's a huge difference. In that way it is much less polluted here because everyone takes public transportation, known as minibuses or "matatus". But the vehicles are not well maintained and spew out black diesel smoke, which which can make it hard to breathe sometimes on the street.

Every day in this country seems to be partly cloudy and perfect temperature. There is red dirt lining the sides of all the roads, as well as small shopkeepers and people selling food, like grilled corn, which is actually quite tasty. Everybody looks at me, usually for a few seconds. I thought there'd be more whites in the expat area, but not so much. This has a combined effect of making me feel more like a fish out of water, and makes the experience more interesting. Fortunately everyone seems nice, especially when I tell them why I'm here, that really opens them up and helps remove their mzungu sales pitch. "Mzungu" means white man in the local language. Funny enough, the literal definition of mzungu is "someone who roams around aimlessly", because the first whites in East Africa were explorers.

There are a lot of security forces walking around with AK47s, which is both reassuring and disconcerting, but I'm sure the same was true in NYC after 9/11. I went to the local mall today to get a cell phone, felt nervous the entire time, but that's where all the best shopping is so I decided to test the waters. I found myself unconsciously looking for unconventional places I would hide if I heard gunshots, like behind food on the shelf. I walked briskly. The plan is to lay low in the short term, both for my comfort and my mom's sanity, and ease my way into the city.

I talk to a lot of people when I am meandering. They always ask what I'm doing here, when I tell them I'm here to reduce poverty by increasing the income of the poor, the conversation naturally leads to their source of income. I'm surprised by how much a brief conversation seems to help them. Just some basic thoughts on business go a long way. I guess I forgot how a lot of business is not intuitive, especially in a developing country where most people's main concern is getting food on the table that day. Had a conversation with a lady today about her aspiration to open up a small bakery. I convinced her to start baking at home first and try to create sales from there, after which a brick and mortar store would carry less risk. Her eyes lit up with the plan. She immediately wanted to become friends. It's a great feeling to use my experience in this way. It taps into an emotion that didn't exist in my previous career - or ever, for that matter.